Last week I started by moaning about my bad luck and this week the opposite is true, and my BETDAQ balance is well and truly refreshed, as was I after the results at the weekend!

Not everything went to plan thanks to a the cricket when I thought I was sitting pretty as Alastair Cook rode his luck and seemed destined for a big innings plus the position of leading scorer for England – my 4.8 on BETDAQ was looking better value by the second but one lapse of concentration saw him bowled on 50, and he was soon overtaken by Jonathan Trott to leave my bet languishing in the Cardiff rain but you cant win them all I suppose?

One thing with being as sports lover and would be professional punter (we all have a dream), is the never ending supply of option after option if you want to place a bet but this week I decided to be picky, just for once. On Saturday I switched my attentions to the horses with Caspar Netscher my idea of the NAP of the day, so a very healthy bet was struck at odds of 3.2 on BETDAQ which never looked in any danger as the two year old was always going well and only had to be pushed out to win (even if he did idle in front).  As you will have already guessed, I did play up part (but not all) of my winnings with a win and place bet on Below Zero in the Ayr Gold Cup, which left me with egg on my face as the four year old trailed in not so much out of the frame as out of the county, stone cold last and beaten 36 lengths – oops, but tomorrow was another day and I was really looking forward to the football. Spurs v Liverpool held too many biases so I gave it a miss but a sizeable bet was placed on Manchester United to beat Chelsea and job done, profit made, and off to the pub! The only trouble with the footie is it takes so long to be certain whether you have won or lost, and although the final score was 3-1 it was really end to end stuff, with possession officially split 50/50, and Chelsea having more shots than the home team, both on and off target. It was the sort of game I wanted to watch from behind a cushion and it wasn’t until 3-0 up that I even thought about laying off at a much lower figure but in the end I decided the 1.9 I took with BETDAQ was value enough and I let it ride before collecting.

A couple of weeks back I may have mentioned that I have been looking at the odd system involving laying odds on favourites and I can report that either I hit the concept at the wrong time, or it simply doesn’t work. I didn’t lose much but never looked likely to make a profit either but thanks to BETDAQ at least I can look at ways to find likely losers (surely that must be easier than finding winners?), as I continue my never ending quest to retire early on my punting profits.

Ahead we have an intriguing weekend but as always I refuse to settle for second best and have been trawling every BETDAQ market I can find searching for a spot of value.  Football seems a good place to start (famous last words), and I will up the ante with not one but TWO bets this weekend – really splashing out for once.  I admit to being an avid Everton supporter so I am looking at the match against Manchester City on Saturday (live on the box) through rose tinted spectacles but a glance at recent results and the statistics show that Everton have won all of their last four visits to Eastlands and done the double over their mega rich opponents in both of the last two seasons. Admittedly the financial gulf between the two gets bigger season on season, but at 8.6 for the away win with BETDAQ, surely risking a point makes common sense, and could pay rich rewards?

Dropping down a few divisions, Crawley Town were and still are one of the favourites to get promoted from Division Two at the first time of asking, and I can confirm that they will have an almost fully fit squad available for the trip to Aldershot.  They are a free scoring side battle hardened and ready for a battle if the chips are down and at 2.49 with my beloved BETDAQ they have to be the football bet of the weekend at the odds.

The horse racing is amazing this Saturday with Newmarket putting on a feast for punters everywhere, and I was going to back Farhaan, who is the best juvenile John Dunlop has had in some years and will probably go off favourite to take the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes at 2.05.  There is no doubt he is a colt of some potential BUT John Dunlop admitted on television yesterday that all is not 100% in the yard and if he is at odds of 2.0 or less on the day a small lay bet could be the sensible option.

For a win bet, I will look no further than Best Terms who has done absolutely nothing wrong in winning all her four races to date, and if she can get a soft lead in the Cheveley Park Stakes at 2.35, she could take all the catching. Richard Hughes and Richard Hannon have been a potent combo all season and there is no real reason to expect that to suddenly change and we will never fond out just how good she really is until she is beaten.

Summary of this week’s bets:
1pt Win Everton to beat Manchester City Saturday
2pts Win Crawley to beat Aldershot Saturday
1pt Lay Farhaan 2.05 Newmarket Saturday (if 2.0 or less to lay)
2pts Win Best Terms 2.35 Newmarket Saturday